>
> >A shame that our wonderful honey bees are being
> used for nefarious agendas and purposes.


Lloyd (and All), I just got off the phone with reps from the EPA.
The situation between the beekeepers of this country and the EPA is
currently "difficult."

I'm deeply concerned about beekeeper credibility, and feel that the
beekeepers are being used by other organizations.

The problem is, that as we lose credibility with government agencies, they
will simply blow off our legitimate concerns. Pesticides are, and always
have been a major issue for beekeepers.  We are currently in the position to
be respected stakeholders in the regulatory process.  It is very
disheartening for me to see us lose that respect.

I had a very informative long lunch at Galveston with a rep each from EPA,
Bayer, private research, and university research, and me as a beekeeper.  At
the end of the lunch, we were all in agreement as to the future direction
for pesticide research, and for getting to the bottom of problems with
neonicotinoid registration and application.  We could have all walked out
with a united message to legislators and the regulatory agencies.   Believe
me, we are all on the same page!

Unfortunately, this sort of positive progress is currently being hampered by
extremism.

Randy Oliver

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